Top Senate Democrats urge Obama to move on immigration

Six high-ranking Democrats have written a letter to President Obama urging him to move ahead with an executive action on immigration, even as Republicans are warning him not to act alone.

"We know that enacting a comprehensive immigration bill is the only way to permanently fix our broken immigration system," the senators wrote. "The Senate-passed bill would overwhelmingly pass the House of Representatives. Because House Republicans have not acted, we fully support your decision to use your well-established executive authority to improve as much of the immigration system as you can."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chuck Schumer of New York, Patty Murray of Washington, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado signed the letter. Durbin, Schumer, Menendez and Bennet were the four Democratic members of the so-called "Gang of Eight" who drafted the Senate immigration bill that passed last June.

Their urging comes as Republicans are warning the president not to take unilateral action. House Speaker John Boehner vowed Thursday to fight the president "tooth and nail" if he takes executive action on immigration.

After the election, Boehner warned that an executive action would "poison the well" for any future congressional action on the issue.

Mr. Obama, for his part, has said he cannot wait any longer and that the GOP can always replace whatever he does with their own legislation.

"Their time hasn't run out," he told CBS News' "Face the Nation" in an interview earlier this month. "The minute they pass a bill that addresses the problems with immigration reform, I will sign it and it supersedes whatever actions I take. And I'm encouraging them to do so."

In the letter, the Democrats argue that every single previous president since Dwight Eisenhower has used his presidential authority to shape the enforcement of immigration laws. They cited the example of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in dealing with the 1986 immigration reform law, which gave amnesty to some undocumented immigrants, but did not extend to all of their spouses and children. Both the Reagan and Bush administrations exercised prosecutorial discretion to stop the deportation of those 1.5 million spouses and children.

The lawmakers say Mr. Obama should expand his 2012 executive action, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (known as DACA). This gave certain immigrants brought to the country illegally as children renewable two-year reprieves from deportation and provided them with work permits. The senators say this could be extended to immigrants who have strong ties to the U.S. and no serious criminal records, including the parents of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and DACA recipients.

But that type of action could also be easily overturned by the next administration if the winner of the 2016 election does not want to continue the policy. New York University Law School Professor Adam Cox, an expert in immigration and constitutional law, also told CBS News that if the next Oval Office occupant reverses DACA and any potential expansion of the program, the immigrants who had been protected under these orders could try to sue the government for a violation of due process if they are forced to return to their native countries while they still have time left on their deportation deferrals.